Effie & Haymitch: Rocking the Bottles
by KelsNicole92
Summary: The sequel to Always My Sweetheart, this new story will follow Effie and Haymitch as they struggle to make decisions that will not only affect them but their daughter. Neither of them know what a trip to the Capitol will have in store for them, and one question burns in both of their minds. Will the answer be one that they want or an obstacle that they struggle to overcome?


**A/N:  
Here is the first chapter to Effie and Haymitch: Rocking the Bottles, I hope that all of you enjoy it. I'm extremely sorry that this is just being posted, a lot has happened and there are still many changes going on in my life. I can't promise that the uploads will always be around the same time, but I can promise you that I'll continue to post this story until it is complete.  
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**Thank you,**

***~KelsNicole~***

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Effie:

I carefully lay Alena down in her crib, feeling exhausted from everything that has happened today and ready for bed. Her little hands ball up into fist as she makes a light sound as she sleeps peacefully, making a smile form on my lips as I edge towards her bedroom door. Once in the hallway, I let out a deep breath as I close the door behind me, and jump when I hear the front door open downstairs. The door is shut loudly, and Haymitch comes running up the stairs with a look of delight on his face. When he reaches me, his arms wrap around me and our lips meet for a brief second, before he starts to jump around looking like a complete and utter fool. I stay standing in the same spot, knowing that my hair is unacceptable, and that I need a goodnight's sleep – and by good I mean long. The only question is when I will receive the gift of a goodnights sleep and from the way that Haymitch is acting something tells me that it won't be tonight. This does more than displease me, it infuriates me. All that I want is a few extra hours of sleep and lately Haymitch has been getting home in the early hours of the morning – which many times woke up a fussy Alena. That better not happen tonight or else he will be the one rocking her back to sleep for at least half an hour.

"Effie – wait until you hear about what just happened to me, you are not going to believe it! You and I have been waiting for this for a long time, and it's finally happened!" says Haymitch, his voice going up a few octaves every few seconds. He begins to clap his hands together, making my tolerance for his noise about to drain completely, but he doesn't seem to notice. "But before I tell you my news, how about you tell me about your day? How have both of my little sweethearts been while I was away?"

"Haymitch," I say his name in an unnerving calm tone as I take a step towards him, and rest my hand on his chest. My eyes narrow as they lock with his, knowing that my lack of sleep has to be showing in my features as I gently kiss him on the cheek. "Let's talk about it in our room, but I should warn you…if you wake Alena up you will be the one to get her back to sleep. Speaking of sleep, I need sleep…and a lot of it."

Turning, I walk to our room and he follows closely behind me. As soon as I'm within falling distance of the bed, I fall onto my side and land on the bed – half on, half off. Haymitch gently picks me up and places my head on the pillows as I yawn. The bed seeps down where he sits next to me, holding my hand in his as he chuckles gently, making me feel like I could bite his head off at this very second, but know that I'm too tired to do so. Leaning forward, his lips brush against mine and I let out a light sigh as I snuggle back into the pillows.

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" asks Haymitch, true concern lacing into his voice as his fingers brush across my cheek bone. A few seconds later, he's lying down beside me and I'm snuggled into him – knowing that tonight will be the best night's sleep that I have gotten in a long time. "Get some sleep tonight, and we'll talk about the future possibility of me becoming Mayor of District Twelve. Now tell me about you an-"

"What could you 'possibly' become, Haymitch?!" my words come out in a loud screechy tone as I bolt up in bed, and stare at him in disbelief. His eyes go wide, making me feel like a vulture, as his hands reach out for me but I push away from him, and begin to pace around the room. "You have to be kidding - no, no, no a thousand times no! You cannot do this to us – what about Alena? What about our dreams, and our family?"

"Effie, sweetheart – President Paylor was only making a suggestion, and I made it clear to everyone that I had to talk to you before I decided on anything." Haymitch stands, and begins to walk towards me. I take two steps back for every step that he takes, and shake my head frantically. "Let's talk about it in the morning, you look exhausted – just get some rest. I can take care of Alena tonight, and will always be here for the two of you. I know that if I were to become Mayor that it would not change our family, we would still have more children as we have talked about before."

"Do you not remember what happened to the previous Mayors'? What were all of their fates? Are you going to consider the well-being of our family or only think about what that horrid woman said to tempt you into taking the position?" My fingers tangle in my hair as tears begin to roll down my cheeks at the thought of losing Haymitch. A few seconds later his arms are wrapped around me, and he persuades me to lie down again. "I just want to do what is best for us and Alena. We have talked about so much, and have planned everything that we want to do out…do you want to give up all of our dreams?"

"I wouldn't be giving up on our dreams, but I would help guarantee that we could watch our dreams come true. You want another baby don't you? Your husband becoming Mayor would not change that from happening, and we will try now that I am back, but on one condition…." I stare at him in shock, not understanding why he would make a condition to us having another child when we both love our daughter so much. "You have to be open minded to me becoming Mayor, and you need to take a trip. How would you like to go to the Capitol for a little bit?"

"I can't just head off to the Capitol anymore Haymitch. Madge and I have just opened our small dress shop, and what about Alena?" My mind begins to race as I think about everything, feeling as though if I were to leave for any short amount of time that everything would fall to pieces, and I could never allow for that to happen. Alena is almost four months old now, and I have not spent more than a couple of minutes away from her. "Don't you understand that I have to be here with our daughter?"

"We can take her with us," says Haymitch in an unusually calm tone, one that sounds almost soothing. For a few moments both of us remain silent, but my husband's smile continues to grow as the seconds tick by. "Effie, you need a break and I am going to make sure that you get one. Ever since Alena was born you have been running on two to three hours of sleep, and haven't complained once. Allow me to take care of her while we're on a small vacation, and you can pamper yourself."

I cannot fight the smile that begins to form on my lips, knowing that Haymitch means well, and really wants to help me but how am I supposed to just fall out of my daily routine? Shaking my head slowly, I smile at him and stroke his cheek as I begin to say, "We can't just leave District Twelve, there has to be a lot of planning for a trip and preparations must be made. Let's wait until Alena is a little older, and I can start to plan the trip now – maybe I'll be done by her first birthday."

"You always worry, don't you? I have everything planned out, don't worry about any of it, and we'll be leaving in two days. All that you have to do is pack what you'll need, and I'll make sure that Alena is packed." I wonder if the expression of horror shows on my face, because it is obvious that my husband does not realize the feeling of panic that rushes through my body like a tidal wave. "Now get some sleep, and I'll go check on Alena. We have a busy next few days ahead of us, and my sweethearts don't have to worry about anything."

He kisses me one last time before leaping out of bed, and with a hop in his step he leaves our room, leaving me to stare at the wall in shock. This cannot actually be happening, he cannot actually think that he can just whisk Alena and myself off to the Capitol without asking me about it all first. I plan everything out that is how it is – Haymitch normally needs me to remind him when he has something scheduled and he now he thinks that he can just change? How dare he do this! It is unthinkable – unimaginable, and cannot be happening. Tomorrow morning I will have a long talk with him, and set this whole thing straight. We are married, and have to listen to each other. By tomorrow night we will have it decided that our family will stay here in District Twelve, and remain the same. Of course convincing Haymitch of this could take a few days, which means that I will need to be at my best in the morning.

"I hope that he sees that nothing is that easy…" I whisper under my breath as I slip beneath the covers, my eyes close the second that my head sinks into the pillows. A content expression shows on my face as I flip around in bed, finding that one spot that I will drift off to sleep almost automatically. Yawning, I say to myself, "I love him…so much."

Haymitch:

Slipping into Alena's room, I carefully navigate to the rocker in the corner and sit there to just watch her sleep. My little sweetheart sleeps soundlessly, making the hours that pass by feel like just minutes ticking by. Leaning back in the rocker, I begin to drift off as I listen to my daughter's gentle breathing. Every night that I sit in here and just watch her sleep it puts me at easy, the only that I know how to explain it is her breathing being like a lullaby to me. Little had I known just a few mere months ago that little Alena would become the center of my world, along with her mother of course. Her little hands ball into fists and she coughs lightly in her sleep, making me leap out of my chair as I stare at her wondering if she needs me. Taking a deep breath, I shake my head and sigh deeply as I begin thinking about what I had just told Effie. She did not seem too happy about it, which now has me questioning if it is right for us – for Effie and me? Even more it has me questioning if this is right for _our_ family. Is Effie right? Should I get my head out of the clouds and never even consider this option? Maybe I need a few other opinions…

"Peeta and Katniss might be able to help me out a little?" I almost breathe the words as I stare down at my daughter, watching as her little nose scrunches up as she continues in her deep slumber. I almost chuckles as he whispers, "I'll talk to you about it first though, sweetheart. You'll help daddy, won't you?"

Thinking through everything again, a smile forms on my lips before I slowly begin edging my way towards the door thinking that I'll only need a few minutes with the kids. Alena could just continue lying there happily until I return, and neither of my sweethearts would ever know that I had left. Smirking to myself, I swiftly move to the door and gently close it behind me feeling as though I only had a limited amount of time. If Effie awoke and found that I wasn't at either hers or Alena's side she would demand an explanation and a good one at that, which causes me to rush down the stairs to the kitchen. With a sly grin my hand touches the back doorknob and turns it, knowing that this would be the smartest way for me to go.

Once outside I navigate my way through the pitch-black backyard, almost tripping on the landscaping and flowers that Effie had insisted on. Groaning I attempt to step over all of the Saffron Crocus flowers that she had planted, the last time that I had accidentally stepped on one she almost drove me to picking up the bottle once again. I can still remember the fight as though it was just yesterday.

"_Haymitch – what are you doing?" shrieks Effie as I stand in the mix of her army of flowers as my geese follow me, with Alena resting in my arms. "Bring Alena and those – those – barbaric beast – put them away now! I don't want her to be around those things, what if they have a disease?"_

"_Sweetheart, you really have to calm down. Alena's completely fine, see – uh…" I take a step forward and feel something crunching beneath my shoe, which causes me to stare at my wife in horror. "Maybe you're right – let's get her in there for a nap!"_

_ Effie being herself rushes towards me and I step out of the way, which is when she falls to her knees crying out loud as though someone had killed a close friend of hers. She rocks back and forth for a few seconds before collecting herself, which is when she stands up with anger in her eyes. Without uttering a single word to me, she takes our daughter from my arms and begins to advance on me which brings back memories from when I was a tribute in the Hunger Games. That was one thing that no victor could forget, the look in your opponents eyes as they began plotting how you would die and the helpless sinking feeling that you felt when the end was growing near – yet you survived by some miracle. Holding my hands up, a chuckle escapes me and I take a step back – which only causes her to step forward yet again._

_I part my lips to attempt to calm her down, but before I even have a chance to begin speaking she snaps at me, "Do not start any of that sweetheart stuff right now, do you understand me? Those are Saffron Crocus flowers! Have you forgotten how expensive those are? Along with why I had those planted recently?"_

"_They aren't that expensive sweet – I mean Effie. It's what is inside of them that makes them so expensive," I say, attempting to reason with her as I back up right into a tree. "I'm sure that Alena won't mind that her dad accidently killed one of her flowers, look at how many other flowers she has. One is not going to devastate her."_

"_You will never understand, will you? It all matters to me!" cries Effie as she turns on her heels and rushes back inside the house with baby Alena in her arms, who begins to cry gently with her mother. "How can I make you understand that?"_

"_Effie – sweetheart, wait for me – let's talk about this! Where are you going?" I ask as I begin to follow her, but by the time that I reach the house I hear our bedroom door slam shut. "Effie – come out! Please, come out sweetheart! We have to talk about this and make our way through it like we always do."_

_ After hours of pleading with Effie to unlock the bedroom door I find myself sitting at the counter in the kitchen with two bottles in front of me. This was not our first fight – hell, everyone knows about our fights but none have been this dramatic. What was happening to my Effie? In the past few months she had been even tempered, but today she was acting extremely different. Reaching my hand out, I sigh as my hand touches the not yet opened bottle and pick it up. My eyes examine the liquid inside of it, watching as it swishes around almost as if inviting me to take a sip or two – but I already know all too well that one or two sips would not satisfy me. _

_Clearing my throat, I place the bottle back down and pick up Alena's baby bottle and quickly walk up the stairs. I pause in front of our bedroom door and knock twice, but Effie doesn't respond. "Effie – sweetheart, I know that you're upset with me but don't you think that you should put Alena's needs in front of our own? I have her bottle right here and ready for her."_

Stepping up to the back window of Katniss and Peeta's house, I shake the screen gently to see how much force it would take to get it out. The screen shakes and gives way only seconds later, and I easily push the glass frame out of my way before gently pulling myself upward. Backing myself through the window, I stumble slightly and fall into the sink, which in turn causes a few glasses to fall. Feeling around me, I catch my finger on something and feel a sting as I pull my hand back up. Shimmering at me in the moonlight is a small piece of glass with blood trickling down my hand. My problems with my finger is shoved to the back of my mind as footsteps grow near, coming right towards the kitchen and the light turns on – shocking me because of how bright it is.

"Haymitch?" ask Katniss and Peeta at the same time as the woman with dark hair lowers her bow. Her fingers remain in place, holding the arrow precisely in the same position. They stare at each other for a few seconds before she asks, "What the hell are you doing in here? Do you know what time it is? I could have killed you!"

I chuckle as I lift myself out of the sink and allow the blood to drip off of my hand onto the floor. "Meet the new and second candidate to be the next Mayor of District 12! That's why I'm here, sweetheart now do you have any advice for me?"

With a solemn expression she looks at me for a few minutes before nodding and says, "Here's some advice. Stay alive."

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**A/N:  
I hope that all of you enjoyed reading the first chapter, please leave a review and let me know what you think so far. I'm hoping to have the second chapter up soon.  
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